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Los Angeles Angels' Chris Nelson follows through on an eighth-inning grand slam off New York Yankees relief pitcher Boone Logan in a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013, in New York. Nelson also hit a fourth-inning solo home run. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Chris Nelson was headed toward the showers when he walked past C.J. Wilson's locker in the Los Angeles Angels' clubhouse.

"What's up, hero?" Wilson said with a wry grin.

"Me? No," Nelson replied.

That must be exactly what the New York Yankees are thinking.

Nelson hit his first two home runs of the season, including a grand slam against his former team, to send Wilson and the Angels past New York 8-4 on Thursday.

"It's a great day for Chris, both offensively and defensively," Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said. "It's good to see his bat come alive. He's got some pop and he hasn't really shown it this year in the 100 or so at-bats he's had, but you saw it today and hopefully it's a sign of more to come."

Josh Hamilton and rookie J.B. Shuck each had an RBI single to help the struggling Angels prevent a four-game sweep. Wilson (13-6) won his fifth consecutive decision, keeping Alfonso Soriano in the ballpark after the streaking slugger piled up four homers and 13 RBIs the previous two nights.

Soriano extended his sensational tear, going 4 for 5 with an RBI single, but the Yankees managed little else until a three-run ninth as their four-game winning streak ended. After finishing a 5-2 homestand, they head to Fenway Park this weekend to face first-place Boston.

Nelson spent a couple of weeks with the Yankees in May, one of several replacements they tried at third base while Alex Rodriguez was recovering from hip surgery. A top-10 draft pick by Colorado in 2004, he didn't leave much of an impression — until returning with Los Angeles.

"He hurt us bad today," New York manager Joe Girardi said.

Nelson hit a solo homer off Phil Hughes (4-12) to make it 3-1 in the fourth. He added his first career slam off Boone Logan in a five-run eighth for his first multihomer game in the majors. Mike Trout got the inning started by hustling for a pop-fly double that was misjudged by center fielder Brett Gardner.

The only time the Angels retired Soriano, it came on a nice play at third by Nelson, who started a critical double play earlier in the game. Shuck also threw out Soriano trying to stretch a single in the first.

"Everything just fell in place for me," Nelson said.

Wilson worked around 11 hits and threw a season-high 124 pitches in 6 2-3 innings while matching his win total from last year.

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